The Year Of The Bungalow

The Little House That Could Is On The Verge Of Cultural Stardom

April 06, 2001|By Mike Conklin, Tribune staff reporter.

To Chicago bungalow dwellers in the 3600 block of West 62d Court, the 5600 block of South Rockwell Street, the 3500 block of South Lowe Avenue, and, as far as that goes, bungalow lovers everywhere, congratulations.

The distinctive Chicago-style home, with its one-story, rectangular brick design and pitched roof, is about to get noticed, studied and celebrated as never before.Residents in the aforementioned three blocks, plus those in other selected, bungalow-heavy neighborhoods, soon can expect busloads of tourists motoring down their streets and snapping photos as if gazing at Hollywood homes. This is shaping up to be The Year of the Bungalow in Chicago. Check out the following:

- The Chicago Architecture Foundation is mounting a major exhibit with models and photos for October that will go on a national tour after its run here is concluded. The CAF also will organize a smaller exhibit to make the rounds of Chicagoland libraries, historical associations, museums and conservatories.

- For the first time in its history, the CAF is adding "Bungalow By Bus" treks into the neighborhoods to its offerings of tours that already include architectural landmarks such as Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, historic Loop business structures, churches and cemeteries. The guides will point out details of bungalow life, design and history on the tours, which begin in May. Tom Drebenstedt, a tour director, said the idea is to show how bungalows fit into the city's history as well as their architectural detail. "They're an important chapter," he said.

- Out-of-town educators will devote a session to a discussion of bungalows during an American Arts & Crafts Society Conference, a high-end gathering of collectors, designers and scholars coming here in June.

- Two new books devoted to bungalows, with chapters such as "The Chicago Bungalow and The New Woman" and "Moving on up: Chicago's Bungalows as a Symbol of Upward Mobility and a Stage in Suburbanization," are scheduled to be published.

Can "Bungalow Survivors" on TV be far behind?

Maybe bungalows have never been an icon of the city the way the skyline has, but the Bungalow Initiative announced last September by Mayor Richard M. Daley has obviously spurred renewed interest in this signature, Chicago-style house. The city program offers financial incentives to Chicagoans who want to purchase and/or remodel bungalows.

The Historic Chicago Bungalow Association was established to administer the plan, which, as political experts note, plays especially well with bungalow belt voters.

"Whether he knew it or not, the mayor triggered something profound here and way beyond what anyone would've imagined," said Joe Bigott, a history professor at Purdue University Calumet, whose interest is urban systems. "This dialogue beginning to take place is really unprecedented, especially when you get important organizations in it like the Chicago Architecture Foundation. There are facets to this that are fascinating for academics, yet they've never been fully explored."

Daley, raised in a Bridgeport bungalow himself, said in making the announcement that he was concerned that the housing style, which once was represented by 80,000 units or more in the city, might disappear in the rush to create newer housing. "Bungalows are part of what Chicago is about," the mayor said.

When Daley picked Cindy Malloy's residence in the 9700 block of South Seeley Avenue from which to make his announcement last September, she admitted to being slightly puzzled at being in the spotlight simply for living in a bungalow. "It's just a nice house where we raised five kids," she said.

But the choice of the Malloy home, which was made by an advance team simply because it was part of a block filled with bungalows, illustrated the strong family ties often associated with the houses: Malloy's parents and a brother live in bungalows within a few doors of hers and another brother lives in one several blocks away.

Since the press conference, Malloy has had a procession of photographers come by to take pictures of the house while strollers in the Beverly neighborhood pause to ogle the medallion that goes with being certified in the new HCBA program.

Now, it's also likely that her home will be a stop on the tour because of the mayor's announcement made from the front steps.

"I'm still not sure what the deal is," she said, "but we've been having a lot of fun. My kids had special T-shirts printed."

The way returns have poured in since Daley's initiative resembles how Chicago voters cast their ballots in a Chicago election: Early and often.

More than 7,500 inquiries have been received in the few months since the program began and already 800 houses have been "bungalow certified," which means they fit the architectural criteria to be eligible for the program's perks, according to HCBA Director Charles Shanabruch.